Control line securement method and system

ABSTRACT

Control lines are secured to a completion string by a wrap wound around the completion string and control lines. The control lines are positioned adjacent to the completion string as it is lowered towards a well, and the wrap is wound helically around the lines and string in an open or closed loop manner. The placement and pitch of the wrap may be regulated, such as based upon the rate of advancement of the string into the well. One or multiple wraps may be used, and successive turns of the one or more wraps may overlap or be spaced from one another.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application No. 13/706,125,entitled “Control Line Securement Method and System,” filed Dec. 5,2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,273,520, and claims priority from and thebenefit of U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 61/581,258, entitled“Control Line Securement Method and System,” filed Dec. 29, 2011, whichare hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates generally to the field of well completions, andmore particularly to techniques for providing and securing control linesto completion or production strings during deployment in a well.

Following drilling of oil and gas wells, completion strings aretypically placed and cemented into a well for production of fluids fromone or more production horizons from which they are raised to theEarth's surface for further processing. In many cases small tubing linesand conduits, electrical wiring and other conductors are associated withthe completion string to perform various operations, such as sensingdownhole parameters, opening and closing valves, permitting closing inof the well, injection of various chemicals, and so forth. Such lines,conduits and conductors are commonly referred to as “control lines”, andone or many may be provided with any particular well.

There are a number of methods known for deploying control lines withtubes and piping lowered into wells. For example, various clamps may beplaced over the control lines and at least a part of the piping toanchor the control lines to the outside of the piping. “Slips”,“spiders” or some other support device is sometimes used to hole thepiping during attachment of the control lines. In one particulararrangement that has proven particularly useful, clamps or straps areapplied fasten the control lines to the piping in a space between a rigfloor and an entry to the well.

There still exists a need for further refinement in techniques forattachment of control lines to completion strings that may offeralternatives and advantages over known approaches. There is a particularneed for techniques that may reduce or eliminate the need for clamps andbands, and reduce the need for operations personnel to place or monitorplacement of such devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The present invention is designed to respond to such needs. Inaccordance with one aspect of the invention, a method for securing acontrol line to a tubular string for placement in a well includeslowering the string towards the well, placing the control line adjacentto an outer surface of the string, and winding a wrap helically aroundthe string and control line to secure the control line between the wrapand the outer surface of the string.

The invention also provides a system securing a control line to atubular string for placement in a well. The system includes a structurefor holding and lowering the string towards the well, at least one storeof control line to be secured to the string, and a winding stationdisposed downstream of a location where the control line approaches thestring and configured to winding a wrap helically around the string andthe control line to secure the control line between the wrap and anouter surface of the string.

Still further, the invention provides a tubular well string comprising atubular string disposed in a well, a control line disposed adjacent toan outer surface of the string, and a wrap wound helically around thestring and the control line to secure the control line to the string.

DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood when the following detaileddescription is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in whichlike characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical illustration of a completion string beingplaced in a well, with control lines being attached to the string inaccordance with the present techniques;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatical illustration of an exemplary wrapping systemfor securement of the control lines to the completion string;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a portion of the completion string withthe control lines secured to the outer surface by a wrap;

FIG. 4 is a similar elevational view illustrating certain of thewrapping parameters that may be considered and controlled in the controlline placement;

FIG. 5 is another elevational view of a wrapped completion string andcontrol lines showing possible overlap of wraps;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view through a completion string with controllines held by a wound wrap; and

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps in securing controllines to a completion string by wrapping.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention provides novel control line securement systems andmethods that can be used in any type of oil or gas well. The techniquesallow for securement of one or multiple control lines, and these mayinclude any desired tubing, conduit, wiring, conductors, and so forth.The techniques may allow for securement to the completion string as itis placed into the well with little or no stoppage for securement of thelines. Moreover, the techniques may be employed with limitedmodification of known support structures used for clamping or bandingcontrol lines to well piping.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical view of an exemplary well during placement ofa completion string and control lines. A control line securement system,designated generally by reference numeral 10, is designed to place andsecure control lines 12 adjacent to a completion string 14. The controllines may comprise any range of conventional conduits, wiring, cabling,and so forth for various purposes, such as control of subterraneanequipment and components, sampling of fluids, injection of fluids,detection of well parameters, and so forth. The system 10 allows forplacement of multiple control lines, or as few as a single control line.

The completion string 14 will be assembled and lowered by tubularhandling equipment 16 in a conventional manner. The details of thehandling equipment are beyond the scope of the present disclosure andmay conform to generally known on- or off-shore systems. In general, thetubular handling equipment 16 will be positioned above a table orplatform 18, with a winding station 20 disposed between the table orplatform and an entrance to a well, indicated generally by the symbol W.The winding station 20 allows a wrap 22 to be disposed around thecontrol lines and completion string as the completion string is loweredinto the well. As described more fully below, parameters of theplacement of the wrap, including its location, pitch, and so forth, aswell as the location of the control lines may be controlled during thisprocess. In the illustrated embodiment, the control lines 12 are storedon reels 24 that may be unwound to pay out the control lines duringtheir placement. Equipment designed for this purpose may be generallyconventional in nature, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.6,131,664 entitled “System, Apparatus, and Method for Installing ControlLines in a Well”, issued to Sonnier on Oct. 17, 2000, which is herebyincorporated into the present disclosure by reference.

The wrap 22 may also be stored on a reel 26 which may be controlled topay out the wrap as it is wound around the completion string and thecontrol lines. A wrapper 28 may be disposed at least partially aroundthe completion string to wind the wrap helically around the completionstring and control lines as they are advanced into the well. In certainembodiments, this component or other components of the winding stationmay also rotate around the completion string as it is lowered into thewell. The wrapper 28 allows the wrap 22 to be paid out at a desiredrate, which may be performed in an open-loop or closed-loop manner, asdescribed below. In general, the wrapper 28 will be associated with awrapper drive 30 which may be a motorized device that draws the wrap 22from the reel 26 and winds it tightly around the completion string andcontrol lines. A reel drive 32 may be associated with reel 26 to controlthe pay out and tension on the wrap. Tension may also be applied byother mechanisms generally known in the art. A wrap control system 34 iscoupled to the wrapper drive 30 and to the reel drive 32, and controlsoperation of these devices to wind the wrap around the completion stringand control lines as desired. The wrap control system 34 may also becoupled to the tubular handling equipment 16 so as to coordinate windingof the wrap with advancement of the completion string into the well.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatical illustration of certain of the functionalcomponents that may be found in the system of FIG. 1. The wrap controlsystem 34, for example, will typically include processing circuitry 36adapted to execute instructions stored on memory circuitry 38 forwinding the wrap around the completion string and control lines. Thememory circuitry 38 may also store parameters utilized by the processingcircuitry during wrap control, such as tensions, speeds, pitches of thewrap, and so forth. Interface circuitry 40 may be provided in the systemand adapted to exchange signals with external components, such as aspeed sensor 42. In the illustrated embodiment, speed sensor 42 may beassociated with the tubular handling equipment 16 to provide a signalindicative of the rate of advancement of the completion string into thewell. Based upon this signal, the processing circuitry 36 may regulateoperation of the wrapper drive 30 and the reel drive 32 to control thewinding of the wrap in a closed-loop manner. Finally, the system willtypically include an operator interface 44 that allows an operator toinitiate wrapping, control wrapping, monitor wrapping, and so forth. Incertain embodiments, the operator interface may be provided locally atthe winding station 20, or remotely, such as in a control room whereother completion operations are monitored and controlled.

FIG. 3 is an elevational diagram of a portion of a completion string 14with control lines 12 secured to an outer surface of the completionstring by a wrap 22 in accordance with the present disclosure. Ingeneral, the control lines 12 may be positioned adjacent to one another,or they may be spaced around the completion string, including ondifferent sides of the completion string. They may be located directlyin contact with an outer service of the completion string 14, or incertain cases intermediate materials or layers may be placed between thecontrol lines and the outer surface of the completion string. In bothcases, for the present purposes the control lines are considered to beadjacent to the completion string. The wrap 22 is the helically woundaround the completion string and control lines as illustrated. In apresently contemplated embodiment, the wrap 22 may comprise a substrate46 with an adhesive layer 48 provided on an inner surface thereof. Thesubstrate may be made of any suitable material, as may the adhesivelayer, but these are preferably materials that are compatible with thefluids, temperatures, chemical compositions, and so forth present withinthe well. By way of example only, the substrate 46 may be made ofvarious synthetic plastic materials (e.g., polymers), web-likematerials, woven materials, and so forth.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate two examples of how the wrap may be woundaround the completion string and control lines. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 4, the wrap may comprise successive turns 50, eachhaving a width 52 and a spacing 54 between each turn. The width 52 andspacing 54 combine to establish a pitch 56 for the wrap. This pitch maybe constant, and controlled to remain constant along the length of thecompletion string, although in certain applications the pitch may bevaried (e.g., near joints in the string). It should also be noted thatthe width 52 and spacing 54 defining the pitch may be selected toprovide the desired holding force of the control lines next to thecompletion string, and to avoid unnecessarily extended lengths ofcontrol line that are not adequately bound to the completion string. Atthe same time, in many cases the pitch will be selected to reduce theamount of wrap needed on the completion string to that required forholding the control lines, thereby reducing cost and effort in thewinding process. It should also be noted that while a single wrap isillustrated in FIG. 4, in practice two or more separate wraps may beprovided, such as wraps wound in alternating turns on the completionstring. In certain other embodiments more than one wrap may be provided,and these may be wound in opposite helical directions on the completionstring.

FIG. 5 illustrates a possible wrap winding in which overlapped turns 60are disposed around the completion string to completely cover thecompletion string and the control lines. In this embodiment, the amountof overlap 62 between successive turns may be controlled during thewrapping process. Moreover, the embodiment of FIG. 5 may be accomplishedwith a single wrap or with multiple wraps as mentioned above.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view through a portion of a completion stringwrapped as described above. The completion string generally comprises atubular member with a central opening in which various devices may bepositioned, and through which minerals of interest may be produced. Thewrap 22 is wound helically around the completion string, trapping thecontrol lines in a desired location adjacent to a completion string oncewrapped.

FIG. 7 illustrates exemplary steps in a process 64 for securing controllines to a completion string by wrapping. The process will typically beinitiated by assembly and positioning of the completion string 66 in aconventional manner. Thus, the completion string may be brought to aplatform or table where it is to be lowered into a well, and successiveportions of the completion string may be assembled for lowering into thewell. At step 68 a control lines and winding station are similarlyassembled and positioned adjacent to the completion string as describedabove. Once the equipment is in place, then, the string will be loweredinto the well as indicated by reference numeral 70. Again, this step maybe performed in a conventional manner. However, at step 72 with thecontrol lines positioned adjacent to the string, the control lines andstring are wrapped as indicated at step 74 to secure the control linesin place at desired locations around and along the completion string.This process continues until the completion is in place with the controllines attached. During the wrapping process, from time to time it may benecessary to begin a new reel of wrapping material when a previous reelis exhausted. This may be performed simply by stopping the lowering ofthe string into the well, changing the reel of wrap, and securing thenew wrap to the completion string, which may be independently secured,or may be spliced to a previous section of wrap.

Certain of the steps in the process may be controlled in closed-loopmanner as mentioned above, and as indicated generally be referencenumeral 76. For example, as the string is lowered into the well, thespeed of advancement may be sensed as indicated at step 78. This speedmay be detected by a sensor, or more than one sensor, or may be providedby some component of the tubular handling equipment that regulates thespeed of advancement. Based upon this speed, then, the rate of placementof the control line may be regulated as indicated at step 80. That is,the control line placement equipment may be regulated to match the rateof advancement of the completion string into the well. Similarly, then,based upon the speed of advancement of the completion string, the wraprate may be controlled as indicated at step 82, such as to provide auniform (or more generally, a controlled) pitch of successive turnswound around the completion string and control lines.

While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed herein, many modifications and changes will occur to thoseskilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appendedclaims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fallwithin the true spirit of the invention.

1. A system, comprising: tubular handling equipment configured to holdand lower a string into a wellbore; a winding station disposeddownstream of a location where a control line approaches the string; anda wrapper drive of the winding station configured to helically wind awrap around the string and the control line and configured to wind thewrap at a controlled rate of winding.
 2. The system of claim 1,comprising at least one store of control line configured to be securedto the string.
 3. The system of claim 1, comprising a reel drive of thewinding station configured to control a tension of the wrap around thestring and the control line.
 4. The system of claim 3, comprising acontroller, wherein the controller comprises processing circuitry andmemory circuitry, wherein the processing circuitry is configured toexecute instructions stored on the memory circuitry, and wherein theinstructions are configured to control the wrapper drive to adjust therate of winding and to control the reel drive to adjust a tension of thewrap based at least on feedback related to a rate of movement of thestring into the wellbore.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein thecontroller is configured to receive the feedback related to the rate ofmovement of the string into the wellbore from a speed sensorcommunicatively coupled to interface circuitry of the controller.
 6. Thesystem of claim 4, wherein the instructions are configured to controlthe wrap drive and reel drive to adjust a pitch of the wrap around thestring and the control line.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein thecontroller is configured to adjust the pitch of the wrap based at leaston a desired holding force applied to the string and the control line bythe wrap.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein the controller is configuredto adjust the pitch of the wrap based at least on a predetermined costof the wrap.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the wrapper drive isconfigured to helically wind an intermediate layer of material betweenthe string and the control line.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein thewrap comprises a substrate layer and an adhesive layer.
 11. The systemof claim 10, wherein the substrate layer comprises a synthetic plasticmaterial, a polymeric material, a web-like material, a woven material,or any combination thereof.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein thewrapper drive is configured to helically wind the wrap in a firstcircumferential direction about the string and the control line and tohelically wind an additional wrap in a second circumferential directionopposite the first circumferential direction about the string and thecontrol line.
 13. A controller, comprising: memory circuitry configuredto store instructions related to winding a wrap around a tubular stringand a control line to secure the control line to the tubular string;processing circuitry configured to execute the instructions; andinterface circuitry communicatively coupled with a speed sensor, whereinthe speed sensor is configured to determine a rate of movement of thetubular string into a wellbore, and wherein the instructions areconfigured to adjust a rate of winding of the wrap around the tubularstring and the control line based at least on the rate of movement ofthe tubular string into the wellbore.
 14. The controller of claim 13,wherein the instructions are configured to adjust a pitch of the wraparound the tubular string and the control line based at least on adesired holding force applied to the string and the control line by thewrap.
 15. The controller of claim 13, wherein the instructions areconfigured to adjust a pitch of the wrap around the tubular string andthe control line based at least on a predetermined cost of the wrap. 16.The controller of claim 13, wherein the instructions are configured toadjust a tension of the wrap around the tubular string and the controlline based at least on the rate of movement of the tubular string intothe wellbore.
 17. A system, comprising: tubular handling equipmentconfigured to hold and lower a string into a wellbore; at least onestore of control line configured to be secured to the string; a windingstation disposed downstream of a location where the control lineapproaches the string; a wrapper drive of the winding station configuredto helically wind a wrap around the string and the control line andconfigured to control a rate of winding the wrap; a reel drive of thewinding station configured to control a tension of the wrap about thestring and the control line; and a controller comprising processingcircuitry, memory circuitry, and interface circuitry, wherein thecontroller is coupled to a speed sensor via the interface circuitry,wherein the speed sensor is configured to provide feedback to thecontroller related to a rate of movement of the string into thewellbore, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to executeinstructions stored on the memory circuitry, and wherein theinstructions are configured to control the wrapper drive to adjust therate of winding and to control the reel drive to adjust the tension ofthe wrap based at least on the feedback.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein the instructions are configured to control the wrap drive andreel drive to adjust a pitch of the wrap around the string and thecontrol line based at least on a desired holding force applied to thestring and the control line by the wrap.
 19. The system of claim 17,wherein the instructions are configured to control the wrap drive andreel drive to adjust a pitch of the wrap around the string and thecontrol line based at least on a predetermined cost of the wrap.
 20. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the controller comprises an operatorinterface configured to enable an operator to initiate wrapping, controlwrapping, monitor wrapping, or any combination thereof.